Set In Stone
by spinadrift
Summary: Every shinobi in Konoha, all her allies knew already but there was no such thing as too careful in times of war. “We’re to go there,” Kankuro said, anticipating Kiba’s question before he could ask it. “Back to the Sand.” [ON HIATUS]
1. Start Me Up

Set In Stone

**Rating:** T / PG for now. M / R in later chapters, mostly for violence.  
**Warnings:** Violence, possible angst, genfic (so rare and underappreciated), things seen from Kiba's POV which may annoy some people? Possible yaoi/yuri/het later on.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_, or any of the places and characters mentioned in that series and this piece of fanfiction. No profit is being made, I write for free.

**Notes:** I've had the urge to write something longer for a while now; this is what I came up with. :D Kiba-centric future!fic -- may become AU as the Naruto series progresses, depending. All (and I mean any) feedback appreciated.

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Start Me Up

Nose facing into the wind, Kiba padded along the short path away from home and towards the central streets of Konoha. Akamaru nestled invisibly in his jacket, stirring from time to time with the movement of his footsteps. The sky was blue, scuffed white here and there with wisps of cloud; the sun shone through, thinly since it hadn't long been dawn, but enough to make Kiba's skin prickle. It had all the signs of becoming a pleasant day.

Stepping automatically into a side street, Kiba came to the entrance of a familiar building and pushed the door open with one hand. He stepped into the hall, making his way to another door set at the back. Everything -- walls, floor, ceiling, windows -- was quiet, bland, completely devoid of any personal touch, even any sign of what the building could be. Every shinobi in Konoha, all her allies knew already; but there was no such thing as _too careful_ in times of war.

Kiba held up his right hand, fingers curling in on themselves. He pressed his palm against a slightly darker patch of wall, inset just to the side of the door. He had no idea how old the security on this building was, the age-worn tang of tags and jutsus and anonymous chakra pressing in on every wall. Kiba saw it every time he was back in Konoha, but he never thought to ask; it hardly mattered as long as everything worked.

The door clicked open and he stepped through, into another, larger room. There were some shinobi here, most of them napping on worn out couches that sagged sadly towards the floor. The rest stood about, eyes flicking from face to face at careful intervals. One nodded to Kiba as he entered and he returned the gesture.

There it was -- Kiba headed for the coffee machine, yawning behind one hand as he went. He came to a standstill a few inches away and rummaged through one pocket, trying to find change: crumpled piece of paper, lint, jar of Hinata's ointment, plasters, balled up string… ah, coins. Kiba slotted some into the machine and let his finger hover over the choices. Black coffee, coffee with milk, with vanilla, without caffeine; various types of hot chocolate. Kiba pressed the button next to "black coffee". The machine whirred into life, motors spinning the plastic cup out from behind a plastic screen. He picked it up, careful not to burn his fingers, and ambled a few feet across to the nearest seat.

Kiba slumped back and the chair's joints creaked with worry. He folded his hands around the steaming cup, the smell lifting, warm and bitter. It tickled his nose pleasantly; Akamaru stirred again within his jacket.

It felt strange to be early signing in, Kiba mused. It had taken him months to get used to waking up on time, now that he lived alone, and people were always getting at him about it. "Kiba-kun," Hinata had said just last week, worried, pressing a small jar of ointment into his hands. "You'll get yourself into trouble."

Well, he was early this morning. Somebody else could get in shit for a change.

As he waited for the time to pass, Kiba began to wish that he had brought something to entertain himself with. A pack of cards, maybe, or a book -- nothing heavy, something fun to keep him occupied, pass the time. All he had with him was Akamaru and the contents of his pockets, and the little dog seemed to be sleeping. Kiba hit his foot against the floor, tap tap tap, his knee lifting and falling in no particular rhythm and disturbing the dog pressed against his chest.

Time seemed to be lagging. Kiba wondered how early he really was, or if everybody else was just late. It felt like ages since he'd slept, ages and ages; he stretched and leaned further back in the chair. Maybe he could just close his eyes for a minute or two. It wouldn't do any harm.

The coffee cooled slowly in his hands as Kiba slept.

* * *

"I take it you won't be drinking that."

Kiba didn't open his eyes when he woke: he didn't quite dare. Looking up would mean that he would have to move, and his neck was already protesting that. Deliberating, Kiba settled for lifting one hand to massage his neck, cracking open one bleary eye with a pained groan.

Kankuro stood over him, arms folded, face shadowed by the poor lighting of the room. "What a waste," he sad, dipping his head at the cup in Kiba's hands.

"I don't even like coffee," Kiba replied, frowning as he sat up. He felt the groan of tension in his neck as he slowly tried to rub it out.

Kankuro lifted one dark eyebrow at that. "Then why did you buy it?" he asked, then seemed to change his mind. He lifted one hand to stop any answer before it could start. "On second thoughts, I don't really care."

The other shinobi in the room had circulated, and the set of sleepers on the couches was new. Kiba stretched as much as he could without spilling his cold coffee, then stood up. He headed towards the bin, dropped the cup into it, and turned to face Kankuro again. "Has the Hokage been here? What's my mission?" he asked, feeling more awake already at the thought of getting a good look at the world outside. "Where's Hinata? Shino?"

Kankuro shook his head. "Not coming. You have a mission, but I'm to accompany you instead."

Kiba's mind buzzed with questions, but Kankuro had turned and gone before he could even begin asking. He followed, confused, sprinting to the door and roughly pushing it open, heading across the hall and making his way outside.

Standing by the entrance and waiting for him was Kankuro, dressed all in black and looking very much like a storm cloud waiting to hit. The full impact of his facepaint was lost in the dim grey light streaming from overhead; Kiba could see the texture of it when he moved, purple smudged carefully on paler skin.

"We're to go there," Kankuro said, anticipating Kiba's question before he could ask it. "Back to the Sand." He shot Kiba a meanful look, lips pressed into a line. "You'd know this if you hadn't slept through the Hokage's explanation. We'll catch up with Hyuuga Hanabi and her two subordinates, and assist them with their mission." He paused, face turning to the sky, eyebrows creasing together. "They've found difficulties."

That was why Hinata wasn't coming, then. It felt strange, not working with his team -- but Kiba had worked with Kankuro not long before, knew enough of his abilities. They were on civil terms.

Kankuro turned to look at him, the puppet on his back clacking eerily; Kiba shook off the feeling that he was being watched. "It rains too much here," he muttered, a distasteful look on his face.

"What?" Kiba looked up at the sky and felt a sudden weight slide into place in his stomach. It had grown overcast while he was inside, the underbellies of once-bright clouds smudged dark with an oncoming downpour. The first sloshes of rain splashed down while he watched, and settled into a steady rhythm on the Konoha roofs.

It had all the signs of becoming a thoroughly terrible day.


	2. Learning Curve

Set In Stone

**Rating:** T / PG for now. M / R in later chapters, mostly for violence.  
**Warnings:** Violence, possible angst, genfic (so rare and underappreciated), things seen from Kiba's POV which may annoy some people? Possible yaoi/yuri/het later on.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_, or any of the places and characters mentioned in that series and this piece of fanfiction. No profit is being made, I write for free.

**Notes:** Wow, quick update. Hopefully the rest will all be as speedy as this, though I shan't make any promises. All feedback appreciated, thank you very much. XD

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Learning Curve

Konoha had been at war with the Sound village for two months. It was a far cry from serious, but everybody seemed to be treating it like more than it really was: scuffles, mostly, a mutual avoidance punctuated with violence. Konoha had had few casualties; the Sound nin were much more placid than anybody was really used to, though nobody complained.

"How come you're in Konoha, anyway?" Kiba asked his companion as they made their way through the forest, making jumps from tree to tree. "Shouldn't you be doing missions for your own village?"

Kankuro made the barest attempt at a shrug, not moving his eyes from the stretch of forest ahead. "The Hyuuga kid was passing through Sand when whatever it was happened. This _is_ a mission for my own village." He paused, turned and shot Kiba a strange look. "We thought one of yours would want to be involved, too."

That made sense, Kiba reasoned. It was a little strange, though, why nobody else had been sent along with the pair of them. Hanabi couldn't have been in too much trouble if no medical ninja had been assigned to their mission.

Kiba thought on it, digesting the information with surprising patience. Rescue mission, three chuunins plus himself, and Kankuro was a Jounin. Plus Akamaru, and those weird dolls that the Sand guy carried around… they would be well equipped to defend themselves. Kiba doubted that much more than that would be required if the mission was a simple as it sounded, especially with Hanabi's eyes.

Kankuro didn't speak often as they travelled; the two of them made quick progress, making their way to the Sand village without any problems. They were halfway there by the end of the first day, and decided to set up their beds for the night.

The place they chose was near enough to the desert for hot, dusty winds to blow themselves into irritating places. Kiba found, upon returning from a brief toilet break during dinner, that his food was dusted over with a fine layer of orange silt. He had eaten it anyway, spitting and coughing and making a great deal of fuss about the inconvenience. Kankuro had shown more grace than Kiba had thought him capable of having, offering to sort him something else to eat. Pride had taken priority, and Kiba had declined as politely as he could manage.

As the two shinobi made up makeshift beds in the red light of evening, Kankuro glanced over at Kiba and made a clicking sound in the back of his throat. "I hope the Hokage knew what she was doing, sending a runt like you along," he commented, turning back to look at his own things, face grave.

Kiba stopped what he was doing, held his tongue and took a deep breath. It wasn't as if he was surprised: the insult had been a long time coming. He'd been making bets with himself about when Kankuro would give in and just spit it out. "We'll see who the runt is when we find Hanabi," he ground out, reining his temper in; Akamaru growled defensively from inside his jacket. It was difficult not to rise to the bait -- he wanted so badly to prove the other boy wrong right there and then -- but he just about managed it. Kankuro said nothing else.

Night fell, and Kiba watched the fire die down. It was the first week of real autumn, with brown leaves and spats of rain falling in on Konoha; but in the desert, the nights were always cold. Kankuro had made his first sensible decision of the day, in Kiba's mind, by deciding to sort them out with enough firewood to last the night.

Kiba turned in his sleeping bag, back facing the sleeping form of Kankuro. He felt out of place here. Not that he hadn't travelled out of Konoha before, but… never without his teammates. Akamaru kept him feeling close enough to home, but it seemed strange without the other two. Hinata should have been making stew and threatening to wake him up at dawn, Shino laughing and making comments about Kiba's temper. He was surprised that the thought seemed so important to him.

He was feeling homesick? Kiba snorted, berating himself for being so childish.

A rustle from behind told him that Kankuro was getting up. Kiba kept still, listening intently to the sounds the other ninja was making while he moved. The click and crackle of more logs on the fire; a soft yawn, muffled by one hand, most likely; the rustle of Kankuro's bag as he took out that creepy marionette.

Kiba shifted in his sleeping bag, and felt strangely satisfied when the Sand nin behind him went silent and tensed up. It was odd that he should seem so nervous.

After a minute or so of silence on Kiba's part, Kankuro relaxed again. From the sounds he was making, he was removing the puppet's hand and replacing something inside it.

Kiba closed his eyes, nervous at the possibilities.

* * *

The sun was fully up when Kiba awoke, light falling onto his unprotected face. He groaned and turned over, arm flung over his head, though he knew there was no chance of any more sleep. He listened to the sounds of birdsong for a few moments: the decision to get up was an important one, and required some thought. After another few moments, he got up, stretching his arms wide.

Kiba could smell water nearby; as they hadn't quite reached the desert yet, he guessed that it would be a stream running through the nearby trees. Following his nose and the slight sounds he could hear, Kiba came across it, small and hidden beneath the foliage. He dropped to the ground and scooped some up in his hands, the cold making them ache.

A sound from above alerted him to Kankuro's presence -- the Sand nin was obviously planning their route across the desert for as far as he could see. Kiba drank some water and then splashed his face, the chill waking him up.

"As soon as you're ready to go, we will," Kankuro called down to him. Kiba wondered how much sleep he had actually had -- less than he and Akamaru, that was certain -- then decided he didn't actually care too much.

He nodded, not expecting the older boy to see it, then set about looking for Akamaru. The two of them usually woke up together, but Kiba wasn't entirely surprised that he was already up. He was probably out scouting for some sort of small wildlife.

"Akamaru!" Kiba shouted, voice ringing through the quiet of the forest. "Akamaru, get back here!"

With a yap and a growl, Akamaru tumbled into Kiba's side, knocking them both to the ground. His paws left dirty streaks of mud on Kiba's coat, but he was far too used to mess to really mind. He tickled Akamaru behind the ears and clambered to his feet, grinning. "I'm ready when you are," he called to Kankuro, gazing up into the treetops.

A thump to his right let him know that Kankuro had jumped down from his perch; Kiba headed back to their makeshift camp and gathered up his things, a task that didn't take long. Akamaru clambered back into his jacket, face peeking out above the zip. He barked happily, Kankurou joined the two of them, and all three set off.

Kankuro was just as quiet as he had been the day before, so Kiba appointed it his task to make enough noise to fill the silence, shouting to Akamaru and making loud noises of approval from time to time. The morning was pleasantly warm and they made good progress to the Sand village.

"Are you always this noisy?" Kankuro asked, a few hours into their journey. His voice was disapproving, but the slight smile on his face let Kiba know that he wasn't bothered.

Kiba nodded and grinned at him; he looked forward, gazing at all the sand that lay ahead. He had made the trip before, but it seemed so much longer travelling with somebody as miserable as Kankuro had been. "Maybe if you'd actually say something from time to time," Kiba muttered, glancing across at him.

The older boy laughed. "Okay." He nodded once, and Kiba smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

Kiba grew quieter as the day wore on, tired from the walk and bothered by the sun, but Kankuro tried to make up for it.


End file.
